Esotouric to offer two new bus tours for Halloween

Esotouric's Halloween Gift To Los Angeles: Two Weird New Bus Tours

WHAT: L.A.'s most eclectic tour company launches new Halloween bus adventures ­ EAST SIDE BABYLON crime bus tour and MAJA'S MYSTERIES spiritual history tour

WHEN: Saturday October 31, 11am-3pm (Maja's Mysteries); Sunday November 1,11am-3pm (East Side Babylon)

WHERE: Maja's Mysteries departs from Clifton's Cafeteria at 7th & Broadway downtown; East Side Babylon departs from Philippe The Original, 1001 Alameda, Chinatown

COST: East Side Babylon $58/person; Maja's Mysteries $62/person

INFO: http://www.esotouric.com, 323-223-2767

When your business model is taking natives (and a few savvy tourists) deep inside the dark and secret history of their own city, the stakes are especially high come Halloween. For Esotouric's first two Octobers, the bus adventure company took to the road with Crimebo the Clown on a grisly tour of Hollywood crime scenes. But with Crimebo playing San Francisco this year, Esotouric's fans demanded fresh Halloween entertainment.

Esotouric rises from the grave and to the occasion with not one, but two all new Halloween bus adventures: one reflecting the spiritual side of this strange holiday during which the border between the living and the dead becomes permeable, the other tour reflecting the slash and scream delights of real life ghost and murder tales.

Tour #1, offered on Halloween day, is MAJA'S MYSTERIES: A MAGICAL EXCURSION INTO SECRET LOS ANGELES. Hosted by esoteric scholar, lecturer, astrologer and self-proclaimed white witch Maja D'Aoust of the Philosophical Research Society, the tour is a guided excursion to some of the city's most fascinating spiritual sites. Join Maja and Esotouric for a metaphysical journey into history, faith and magic in the Southland, with in-depth visits to compelling and seldom-seen spiritual landmarks. The tour's stops are still being finalized, but include downtown's gorgeous 1927 Theosophy Hall,which is simultaneously a time capsule and a thriving center for spiritual study, and the local home of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), the esoteric faith founded by Aleister Crowley in the early 20th Century.

Maja says, "The mystery of magic in all its forms lives and breathes in us from the depths of our blood to the tips of our souls. From the Shamans of old to the modern day quantum physicists, the effect of our sheer will on the material world makes up a large part of what defines us as a species. Impacting reality with our consciousness, and conversely, reality's impact upon our consciousness lies at the base of every kind of magic from sympathetic voodoo to thaumaturgy. Making things happen with your mind, whether bringing the rain, healing a disease, invoking a God or prestidigitating an illusion, the art of conscious change is the very heart of the magical mystery of living."

Tour #2, offered on Sunday November 1, is EAST SIDE BABYLON, the latest addition to Esotouric's popular crime bus tour series. Passengers on the debut excursion will discover fascinating, little-known neighborhoods and the grim memories they hold. Come visit Boyle Heights, where the Night Stalker was captured and a mad dad ran amok. Roam the hallowed lawns of Evergreen, L.A.'s oldest cemetery and home of some memorable haunts and strange burials. Visit East Los Angeles, where a deranged radio shop employee made mince meat of his boss and bride-- and you can get your hair done in a building shaped like a giant tamale. Explore the ghastly streets of Commerce, where one small neighborhood's myriad crimes will shock and surprise. Visit Montebello, for scrumptious milk and cookies at Broguiere's Farm Fresh Dairy washed down with a horrifying case of child murder. All this, and so much more on EAST SIDE BABYLON, Esotouric's exploration of L.A.'s most horrifying forgotten crimes.

Tour creator Kim Cooper says, "After years spent collecting dreadful tales from the east side of the L.A. River, I'm thrilled to unleash them as part of a weekend of Halloween happenings. With Maja's tour on Saturday, we pay proper respect to the mysteries of the universe, and then my Sunday tour is all about wallowing in the dark side and scaring ourselves half to death. And as awful as the crimes are, they happened in such interesting, seldom-seen neighborhoods! I think we've got something for everyone this Halloween weekend, and can't wait to see what ghouls turn up to go exploring with us."

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule
Sat Aug 29 - Reyner Banham Loves LA: The Lowdown on Downtown-The Secret History of LA
Thurs Sept 10 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Sept 12 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare
Sat Sept 19 - John Buntin's L.A. Noir (debut)
Thurs Oct 8- The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Oct 10 - Wild Wild West Side
Sat Oct 17 ­ Raymond Chandler's Bay City
Sat Oct 24­ Raymond Chandler's L.A.
Sat Oct 31 ­ Maja's Mysteries spiritual L.A. tour (debut)
Sun Nov 1 ­ East Side Babylon crime bus tour (debut)
Sat Nov 7 - Charles Bukowski's LA
Thurs Nov 12 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Nov 14 - The Real Black Dahlia
Sat December 5 ­ Pasadena Confidential
Thurs Dec 10 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat December 12 ­ Blood & Dumplings

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com

For Maja's Mysteries info, visit http://www.esotouric.com/maja

For Maja D'Aoust info, visit http://godismyboyfriend.com/

For East Side Babylon info, visit http://www.esotouric.com/eastsidebabylon